Under Tony Blair's Labour administration, antisocial behaviour was high on the agenda and so too were the expectations on social landlords to tackle it.

In a blaze of publicity we saw the creation of new tools and powers: the together campaign, the respect standard for housing management and the Asbo. The jury is still out on whether these have had a positive impact on landlords and the communities affected by antisocial behaviour (ASB), but it is clear that it got the housing sector focused on a problem that is regularly named as a high priority for tenants.

So what has happened over the last five years? Under Gordon Brown, the final years of the Labour government attempted to move away from media soundbites such as "respect" and "tackling, not tolerating". What remained was a woolly agenda on behaviour and standards that practitioners did not understand. Now we have the coalition government promising to cut bureaucracy, to make it quicker, easier and cheaper for landlords to take action against disruptive tenants and for communities to hold them to account for their failures.

Some have claimed the new ASB white paper, published in May this year, amounts to the same New Labour tools and powers re-announced with new names. Putting politics aside, there does seem to be some recognition that existing legislation is too complex.

The range of acts containing the powers agencies hold, and explaining who can apply for them, can be confusing, giving some landlords the excuse they need not to act. The legislation must be simplified; in serious cases the repossession process should be accelerated, and the criteria for mandatory repossession extended – and not just as a kneejerk response to last year's city riots.

Even if the new white paper looks fine in theory, ASB feels less of a priority for housing providers than it did under Labour. With cuts to public services, the deepest recession in decades, the impact of welfare reform looming and waiting lists increasing amid a fully-fledged housing crisis, do landlords still care about tackling bad behaviour?

For landlords, the ASB agenda has not gone away. It remains a high priority for our tenants and will undermine the fabric of our communities and core business if we fail to tackle the problem. It has the power to frustrate us as professionals, but also reminds why we work in social housing.

As a landlord with a commitment to social responsibility, it makes sound business sense to invest in ASB services, and it is absolutely right that we continue to challenge behaviour that has a negative impact on communities. Even in this age of austerity, it is paramount that resources to tackle ASB are protected from the inevitable cuts to frontline services.

City West has taken the decision to protect this service, and the results are clear: since 2010, we have resolved more than 1,200 cases of antisocial behaviour. We have about 130 legal actions year, primarily taking out injunctions; evictions account for less than 5% of our enforcement action. We still offer a 24-hour reporting service, work closely with police and other agencies, and resolve the majority of cases without the need for legal recourse.

If housing associations take their foot off the pedal and attempt to direct, admittedly scarce, resources elsewhere, our tenants would be the first to tell us what they thought about it. We need to understand why tenants use ASB services, and why those who are less confident do not trust their landlord's ability to resolve their problems.

Our focus on ASB is at the core of our housing business. Delivery models might change, thanks to emerging government initiatives such as supporting troubled families, but the destabilising impact of ASB if left unchallenged, has not.